That's the truest thing I've read! Same goes for any instrument, it's all in the the driver, not the car!
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What NOT To Do On Walking Bass
- Thread starter Quinn Roberts
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Then definitely start playing with chromatic lines. I probably overuse them but I just dig the I iii iv bV V vi bvii vii I groove - very slinky! Mixing this with jumps and arpeggios can be a really effective way to keep things interesting.
Yes this can be true. What style of music you walk under makes a huge difference. in a blues jazz setting this needs to be very sparing, but you can get away with it much more in most jazz situations. Just like everything else, there is no single golden rule to cover all situations - you kind of have to feel when it is appropriate to apply certain ideas.
What @Skeptismo says is spot on advice as well.
There aren't too many DON'T's, well, except don't do the things that get you the evil eye from soloists or BL.
Personally the thing I always try to DO is make the melodic movement from the last beat of the chord to the downbeat of the new chord something that is strong. In other words, half step from below or above, or V-I melodic movement.
About the only DON'T I keep to is don't play the same note on beat one that you did on beat 4. If you do, you kind of take away from clearly defining the chord change. But then... well, there are times that works.
Oh yea... DON'T just think of the harmony measure by measure. Think of the phrase. Keep in mind the flow of energy and use the strongest tricks in your bag for the end of the phrase.
Personally the thing I always try to DO is make the melodic movement from the last beat of the chord to the downbeat of the new chord something that is strong. In other words, half step from below or above, or V-I melodic movement.
About the only DON'T I keep to is don't play the same note on beat one that you did on beat 4. If you do, you kind of take away from clearly defining the chord change. But then... well, there are times that works.
Oh yea... DON'T just think of the harmony measure by measure. Think of the phrase. Keep in mind the flow of energy and use the strongest tricks in your bag for the end of the phrase.
Another one maybe: it's fine (not a don't) to ignore the 9/11/13's.
If the chord is C7#9 it doesn't make much sense to play C-D#-E-F just because of the #9.
C-D-E-F is perfectly fine and what I probably would play by default, depending on what the next chord is obviously.
By playing a low D# you would effectively turn it into a Cm chord and a possible E natural by another player will sound wrong.
Of course, using those notes in the higher register can be done according tot taste.
If the chord is C7#9 it doesn't make much sense to play C-D#-E-F just because of the #9.
C-D-E-F is perfectly fine and what I probably would play by default, depending on what the next chord is obviously.
By playing a low D# you would effectively turn it into a Cm chord and a possible E natural by another player will sound wrong.
Of course, using those notes in the higher register can be done according tot taste.
Although I don’t do a lot of walking basslines these days, other than half-heartedly keeping the usual recommendations and caveats in mind, the best approach for me was to back burner the music theory and mechanics of the bass itself and start mentally singing the line I thought should be played. Once I clearly hear a line that works for me, I can play it on bass.
YMMV.
YMMV.
in my semi scary old head space ...
walking is a combo of ; chord notes , scales note , passing/leading tones , and mostly importantly - listening to what sounds best .. !!
right or wrong ... come on , we know better - what sounds 'right' to me , might sound like crap to someone else ... maybe i know or feel something they don't in a given moment ... !! ( so , bite me .! )
walking bass is also about ' direction and flow ' ... go listen to some Tommy Shannon ( SRV Double Trouble )
walking is a combo of ; chord notes , scales note , passing/leading tones , and mostly importantly - listening to what sounds best .. !!
right or wrong ... come on , we know better - what sounds 'right' to me , might sound like crap to someone else ... maybe i know or feel something they don't in a given moment ... !! ( so , bite me .! )
walking bass is also about ' direction and flow ' ... go listen to some Tommy Shannon ( SRV Double Trouble )
Off to go try this line out now!
And that would make sense, I've been practicing mostly with Freddie Freeloader and Autumn Leaves. Both are jazzy but Freddie definitely comes off a little more bluesy with the I7-IV7-I7-V7-IV7 progression
I guess a good "don't" would be, "Don't think it's easier said than done to play a walking bass line." For such a rhythmically simple idea, it's really something you can't get better at, or at least get a better ear for, without real world experience.
This is all great info too, I'm gonna have to start taking notes! I've been working on recognizing chord combos as phrases, it'd help me to stop "spacing out" mid-song I feel. I really like me fifth to root movement, but I'm afraid to use it unless it's from below. Seems like to far of a jump to me, but I haven't given it a honest try yet.
What are people's opinion on moving from the fourth from above on beat four to the root on beat one?
This I will be sure to do!
Vaughn is the man, and it'll also be good hearing some walking lines that are outside of the jazz world a little.
"Don't" be lazy?
It is hard and there is no cutting corners. "Don't" think you'll be able to play a decent walking bass without working hard, learning and practicing. "Don't" think there is anything like a silver bullet.
It is hard and there is no cutting corners. "Don't" think you'll be able to play a decent walking bass without working hard, learning and practicing. "Don't" think there is anything like a silver bullet.
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No one here is arguing.
Just trying to help simpletons like me understand the music, because it's about the only thing not remote in my life! Sorry if I upset you though, but I was pretty sure I said thank you for your comment you posted earlier, it actually gave me a Jimmy Neutron style brain blast as you can see by the comment I posted in response, lol.
Why would you play the minor third on a dominant 7 chord anyway? Unless you WANT to clash with the chord tone?
For most of us, this is not a very "pleasing" progression. This is where understanding why things that sound good do so. The V (and it's chord tones) leads our ear (resolves) to the I chord, the IV does not - at least not in a permanent way. The IV leads naturally to either V or vi).
In the blues, rock, classical and country worlds IV-I generally says "we're not done with the phrase yet". That's why the I V bass line is so cliché - it is very comforting . This can get very deep and I'm afraid my theory classes are decades behind me, but it was very eye opening when I learned why the I IV V (rock, country) and the ii V I (jazz) are so prevalent. It's not lack of creativity, it's what feels good in western music.
But again , "never" is not in use here - if you feel it and like it, then use it as you see fit.
The example given was a ii V I...not a ii v I. The V would be a dominant 7 unless otherwise notated.
And yeah, if you want that tension for some reason... Go for it, but typically one tried to outline the established harmony.
My bad, I thought you responding to me and another post - I removed the post you referenced. Apologies...
This is exactly what I would expect a person to say about the fourth... Not that I didn't want to hear it, but I often find myself going from the fourth to the root and it sounding a bit tense maybe, but still "okay" to my ear. I'm thinking I might just be colouring the chords into an eleventh when I do this which is why my untrained ear is willing to go with it. I've done my best to stop myself from doing this, but still find myself being drawn there every now and again when I'm not paying too much attention. I feel like this may be from me playing to many Sus and 11 chords on guitar and listening to a bit too much Santana. It's bleeding into my lines almost, which could work on lead guitar I guess, but probably not so much for harmony on a bass.
This mispost gave me another "brain blast". The flat third may work on a dominant 7, but you'd be hauling in the reigns of the soloist at that point. Spicing the colour up with a blues scale. I often find this to be a problem with jazz and music based off such, at least for myself whom I'd consider a total novice, you can keep looking so deep into a subject, like a b3 on a dominant 7, that you end up with five reasons for and five reasons against. It leaves me in a mental stalemate where I'm not sure what to do really. Something sounds good to me, but Jim Bob says it's wrong and can't/won't be. Or something absolutely perfect to Jim Bob (Sorry if there is any Jim Bob's on here) and me may be substantially wrong to another ear/mind. It's truly a lovely, aggravating thing jazz music is.
Well.... personally, music is a very important thing to me. I’ve pretty much dedicated my whole life to it. So talking about it with other people who might or might not be knowledgeable about it is fun to me. It helps “keep the sword sharp” so to speak.
I just noticed a discrepancy in your example and it’s relevance to what my man said and thought to point it out. I’m sorry if I offended you.
don't avoid tritones
don't be scared of sounding bad
don't always play quarter notes
don't be scared of sounding bad
don't always play quarter notes
A rhythmic/feel tip... don't over emphasize beat one. Beat two and beat four should get a little (and I mean only a little) extra weight to keep things rolling along. Also, keep your quarter notes nice and long. There are times where feel is more important than the exact notes that you are playing.
